Life to the Max Podcast
Welcome to 'Life to the Max Podcast,' where resilience meets inspiration!
Join us on a transformative journey through the life stories of remarkable individuals, including Quadriplegic Army Veteran Maximilian Gross. In this empowering podcast, we dive into tales of triumph, courage, and the human spirit's unwavering ability to overcome obstacles.
Our show is a celebration of diverse narratives, from awe-inspiring achievements to the darkest of traumas. 'Life to the Max' is a testament to the power of living authentically, no matter the circumstances. We believe that everyone has a unique story worth sharing, and we invite individuals from all walks of life to join us.
Discover the profound meaning of living 'Life to the Max'—a concept that resonates differently with each storyteller. It's a journey of perspective, resilience, and finding joy amidst life's challenges. Tune in to be inspired, motivated, and reminded that there's strength in every story.
Ready to redefine what it means to live life to the fullest? Share your story with us and become a part of this uplifting community. Because, at 'Life to the Max,' every story matters.
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Life to the Max Podcast
Elijah's Baby Bucket List: Finding Joy Through Accessible Travel
Amy Tarpein's world changed forever when doctors told her that her eight-month-old son Elijah, diagnosed with an extremely rare brain malformation called Lissencephaly, wouldn't live to see his second birthday. Instead of shrinking from this devastating news, this remarkable single mother of ten made a life-altering decision: if her son's time was limited, she would fill it with as many experiences as possible.
What began as a mother's determination to create beautiful memories transformed into "Elijah's Baby Bucket List," now a thriving platform reaching 2.6 million people monthly. Seven years later—far beyond the doctors' predictions—Elijah continues to explore the world, breaking barriers and changing perceptions about what's possible for children with disabilities.
During our conversation at the Abilities Expo in Chicago, Amy reveals how her journey connected her with other families navigating accessible travel, particularly Corey Lee and his mother Sandy. This serendipitous friendship blossomed into collaboration, with Amy and Sandy now co-hosting retreats specifically for mothers of children with disabilities. "When these ladies came together," Amy shares, "it was like they had known each other their whole lives." Her philosophy, captured in her book "Braver Together," emphasizes the strength found in community and the transformative power of shared experiences.
Perhaps most striking is Amy's perspective on limitation and possibility. "Never judge somebody based on what you can see," she advises, "because you absolutely have no idea what lays underneath. You might be judging somebody who is absolutely limitless." Fueled by what she laughingly calls "copious amounts of coffee," along with patience, faith, and community, Amy demonstrates how challenging circumstances can become catalysts for movements that touch countless lives. Follow their remarkable journey at elijahsbabybucketlist.com and across social platforms—and remember that sometimes the most powerful response to limitation is choosing joy.
What's up, guys? As you can see, we're not in the studio at home. We're actually at the Abilities Expo in Chicago, and this podcast is going to be a little different. It's going to be like a speedcast. The sound is not going to be as great because of how wide open this space is, but I hope you guys enjoy it. Please enjoy this. Lif to the max speedcast. What is up everybody? It's the life to max podcast. So we are the abilities expo in Schaumburg. What is up everybody it's the Life to Max podcast. We are the Abilities Expo in Schaumburg, illinois. It's June 21st 2025. And today I have Amy Tarp with me. She is the founder of Elisha's Baby Pocket Loss, correct? Yes, can you explain a little bit what that's about?
Speaker 2:So I'm a single mom and my youngest son, Elijah, has less encephaly, which is an extremely rare brain malformation, and less than a thousand people in the world have it. They told me when he was eight months old that he wouldn't live to be two, and he turned seven in January. Wow, they told me when he was eight months old that he wouldn't live to be two, and he turned seven in January.
Speaker 1:You know what Doctors told me that I wasn't going to be eating or I wasn't going to drink. I know that's like nothing compared to like death, but like they were telling me all these things and I'm like 10 years in my muscles are not at your pace. So, like doctors don't know, I always tell doctors who practice medicine you don't know medicine and they don't know everybody.
Speaker 2:Elijah has taught me not to judge people like that, that somebody that you think might be limited is in fact limitless.
Speaker 1:So what was your mindset like when you found out about elections?
Speaker 2:It was devastating. I'm a single mom and I have 10 kids. Six of them are adults and I tell people they're my favorite because I don't have to do their laundry anymore. But I travel with four kids and when I found out like I live in the middle of Illinois and I just put my kids in the car and we drove from Illinois to Florida and we showed Elijah the ocean for the first time and he was eight months old and I just decided that if he had a short life, we were going to show him as much of the world as we could.
Speaker 1:That's absolutely beautiful. I actually saw the ocean for the first time since 2014,. Last year in like the panhandle, oh yeah, somewhere by our beach. Yeah yeah, it was beautiful. I know it was cold, but it was beautiful, that's all. So Elijah's Baby Bucket List has kind of like collaborated with a man. I just spoke to Corey Lee, kurt Freewell, corey Lee.
Speaker 2:So we know Corey Lee well. So when I started traveling with Elijah, it was just me and my four kids that's who travels with me and we looked for accessible travel, and there's not a lot of good information out there, but we found Corey Lee, um, and through that we found his mom, sandy, and her and I with our dear friends, um so, um, and then we just kind of started writing our own blog about accessible family travel, um so so did they kind of like guide you in the right direction when it comes to travel?
Speaker 2:So, yeah, yeah. So anytime we go somewhere, we are always like sharing information with Sandy or like, if I like we came here to Chicago and if she knows I'm going somewhere, she's like OK, here are all the places that Corey's been so far are all the places that Corey's been so far.
Speaker 1:I feel like it's very serendipitous that this happened, because your child is seven and Corey created a children's book, yeah, which is like just fell into, like the head, the face, like where you can't see. I can't believe that. It's very beautiful, yeah. So do you travel with Corey or do you travel by yourself mostly?
Speaker 2:We have done like a group vacation to Florida and then Corey's mom and I host a mom's retreat for moms with kids with disabilities.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask you about that, my mom, she actually was going to go to that and she dipped out at the end. I was like, what would you do that mom? Go have fun. When I got injured, I never really understood the gravity. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. If you came with that, yeah, so I saw that picture and you guys just looked so happy, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I can tell you, when these ladies came together, I wasn't sure how well they would get along, or they didn't know each other. They just all came together and they got off the elevator. It was like they had known each other their whole lives. They have so much in common and we have lifelong friends because I believe we're braver together each other, their whole lives. They have so much in common and we have lifelong friends, um, because I believe we're braver together. I wrote a book called Braver Together but, um, I believe we are braver together, um, and even as caregivers, it gives them. It gives them strength and something to look forward to for themselves. Because as caregivers, like we don't like we don't always take care of ourselves. I'll speak for myself. We don't always take care of ourselves. I'll speak for myself. I don't always take care of myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's, uh, the 12 rules for life by John Peterson. There's a chapter where he says, like why don't you just take your pills? Like, take care of yourself, but you'll take care of your dog, yeah, or your family. You're only crazy when you want to take care of yourself. It's a crazy thing to think about, but it seems like you are taking care of yourself and 10 pitts single mom. I have to tip my hat to you. Thank you, that's amazing. I mean thank you so much for coming on. Do you have anything you would like to say to people?
Speaker 2:Um, I guess just never judge somebody based on what you can see, because you absolutely have no idea what lays underneath, what's inside and what somebody is capable of. You might be judging somebody who is absolutely limitless, like Corey or Elijah. We've seen, like we do, an accessible family travel blog and, like that, little boy has seen more than most grown adults.
Speaker 1:Where can people find you?
Speaker 2:We are at elijasbabybucketlistcom and elijasbabybucketlist across all platforms.
Speaker 1:Elijah's going to stay alive and live a great life. It seems like is doing a great job.
Speaker 2:I hope so. I tell people all the time I am blessed to be their mom. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do than be their mom.
Speaker 1:Can I ask you one more question? How did you like the strength and will to be a singer of all time and gifts? That's just insane for me.
Speaker 2:I know people will have trouble with me Copious amounts of coffee, okay, so lots Caffeine. I feel like at this point I should be sponsored by some kind of coffee company I'm just putting it out there or I should start my own coffee line.
Speaker 1:I don't know you should. What's your book called?
Speaker 2:My book is called Braver Together, but I think I would name my coffee company something to do with a hot mess, because I tell people all the time I'm a breathtakingly beautiful hot mess.
Speaker 1:You should, you should. So a lot of coffee and a lot of patience.
Speaker 2:Lots of coffee, lots of patience and, yeah, just faith and community. I mean, I cannot say enough about community. The people in our life who walk alongside us, like Sandy and Kayla who travels with Corey, and you know all of the people there are too many to mention like who just walk alongside of us and, you know, encourage us and you know our followers are incredible.
Speaker 1:Were you surprised at how many people gravitated towards you guys?
Speaker 2:I am, I'm blown away. I started Elijah's Baby Bucket List just to kind of show our family and friends what we were doing and now, like it's huge, we have over half a million people who follow us and like 2.6 million people a month who are like just tuning in to see what we're doing.
Speaker 1:That is so beautiful. I'm so happy that life is true, you know, and you were able to make connections with Corey Lee and all these other people and you were able to help these moms with disabilities and how you guys come together. Like you said, community is a great thing and I really appreciate you coming on the show. I really do.
Speaker 2:And it's all I mean. It's Elijah. He shows people. You know that there's a joy, that you know that there are things in life that are hard, but you can still choose joy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's for everybody listening. So think about Joy. This little baby boy was supposed to live till two, from what doctors say, and he's going on to seven. He's going to go on a lot longer and he's going to go to a lot more places and prosper and enjoy his life with all the people around him, most definitely with the community. Thank you so much for your love and help, jess. Thank you for having me place doesn't prosper and enjoy his life with all the people around him. Let's question with the community. Thank you so much for your love and confidence thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:It was an honor and I can't wait for your mom to come to the mom's retreat we're gonna we're gonna make her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you got her.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you gave me her phone number, I'll be all I'm gonna text her every day until she's like she won't leave me alone, like I gotta go for.
Speaker 1:For everybody listening. If you liked this content, please like, comment and subscribe and, as always, take a breath for me. Thank you so much.